Monday, November 2, 2015

Nurturing an impressive body of work, Stefanie Scott is one of Hollywood’s most promising young talents. Earlier this year, she was seen as the lead in Columbia Pictures’ “Insidious: Chapter 3,” which holds the record as the highest grossing horror movie in the Philippines.

Now, Scott returns to the big screen as Kimber in Universal Pictures’ musical adventure “Jem and The Holograms.”

In the film, Jem’s (Aubrey Peeples) fans can’t get enough of her music and fashion, but what happens if they discover that the version of her they want doesn’t really exist? Here to keep Jem/Jerrica gracefully balanced is Kimber, the younger sister who has been with her since they were children.

Kimber is the keyboardist/keytar player of the Holograms, as well as the reason the world first met Jem (after she uploads Jerrica’s personal video, one in which her big sister is strumming a guitar and singing a deeply heartfelt song). But Kimber is about to find out it’s tough when your job is to keep your sister grounded while still reaching for dreams of your own.

Stefanie Scott, who starred for three seasons as Lexi Reed on Disney’s A.N.T. Farm, was cast in the role. She reflects on what she appreciates most about her character: “Kimber is a firecracker; she’s fearless, naïve and a blast. I’ve learned to not worry about what people think by playing her.” Very much a product of the 24/7 media cycle, Kimber takes her personalized brand by the horns. “As much as she loves to be in front of the camera and the center of attention, she is deeply into social media and recording her life. She is always taking pictures.”

While Kimber is easily excitable and the first to jump into action, Shana Elmsford, the Holograms’ introspective drummer, is a bit more reserved and cerebral. Conversely, Shana admits that her fashion sense is more important than all her other ones combined. When not whipping up The Holograms’ retro-inspired outfits, the insanely talented artist feels just as comfortable behind a killer set of drums.

Shana is portrayed by Aurora Perrineau, who is a series regular on ABC Family’s Chasing Life, in which she portrays Margo. The actress explains why she was drawn to the part of Shana: “The overall theme of this movie is being true to who you are. This modern-day Jem is about family and finding yourself in a world that wants to make you something else.” She found her director Jon M. Chu to be “an actor’s director who is all about the fans. Jon truly loves the cartoon, so he is doing a great job thanking the fans who have come out and shown support for the film.”

Considering that she is the designer of the group, Shana’s obsession with fashion—’80s fashion in particular—allowed the filmmakers a number of nods to the couture that the group wore in the original animated series. From Jem’s partially zebra-striped dress to Kimber’s white jacket and Shana and Aja’s irreplicable designs, there is not a look in their collection that doesn’t have nods to the original Jem decade in its design.

Last but not least, Hayley Kiyoko completes the Holograms as bassist Aja Leith. A badass kleptomaniac whose only low-tech obsession is her guitar, Aja expresses herself best when she’s on stage and wailing on her bass. She’s the first to admit that she has no temper…well, that is, unless you start it first. Kiyoko, who is a musician in her own right and has been appearing both on stage and on screen since she was a child, surmises: “Aja is boy-crazy, opinionated, tough and goofy.” The actress acknowledges that the most exciting part of the shoot was when she saw the robot that the team had created. “I geeked out when I saw Synergy. They did an impressive job creating her as a unique character.”

Opening exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide on Nov. 4, “Jem and the Holograms” is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.